The Brink
by Shukketsu-Sakura
Summary: A ninja of the Sand. A kunoichi of the Leaf. What can happen to two people who barely know each other, and are stuck together on a mission? ANYTHING...[KankSaku]
1. Beginnings

She felt his head and it felt fine, so she withdrew. But she'd moved too quickly…

She replaced her wrist on his forehead, brushing away his ginger locks in the process. He wasn't warm…not at all. If she would've left her arm there much longer, it just might have frozen a vein. He was suffering from hypothermia.

His black-clad chest rose and fell in short, ragged sputters. She had to get him warm. But how? He was far bigger than she was, so she couldn't carry him anywhere. Everywhere around here was cold, anyway. They were in the Snow.

"Why'd they have to separate us?!" She moaned out loud, searching around frantically for something dry and thick to cover him with. She hadn't any luck.

She turned away from his icy body, and slammed her fists on the cool, solid stone of the cave she had dragged him to. She began to cry.

Brief, jerky sobs were echoing in the cavern, emitting from one green-eyed kunoichi. She felt something brush against her bare leg, and it was exceptionally cold.

She looked back at him, to see him trying to reach for her. He pawed weakly at the air, and she reached out – she caught one of his black-gloved, frozen hands.

She leaned over him and looked intently at his face, waiting for him to do something…His purple-lined eyes slid open slowly, to reveal his dark irises. His slightly parted lips had a curve tugging at the corners; he was trying to smile. He succeeded in bringing the corners of his mouth to a slant noticeable, then he relaxed completely and his eyes closed…

She'd thought for sure that he was departed, tears escaping her eyes. One fell on his face and as it touched, he began to breathe. A sharp wheeze was shot through him, and it made his body tremor badly enough to make him cough blood. After that, he relaxed completely again. Tears fell from her eyes again.

She knelt beside him, watching as he drifted into an icy sleep…


	2. The Brink of Death

_**flashback**_

_A sight he was._

_A real sight._

_Especially in the snow. His face was very pale, and his purple face-paint stood out extraordinarily. She couldn't help but stare._

"_What?" He asked, looking annoyed down at the girl by his side._

_She looked away quickly, blushing. There was no doubt that he was handsome, even with the paint adorning his face. Tufts of copper hair were peeking out from under his cat-eared cowl, and placing themselves on his forehead. He shrugged and began walking again, shoving his hair back under the hood with his right hand._

_She watched the snow fall in front of her, trying to keep her mind and eye from wandering to the interesting ninja. She failed. She watched him walk, the puppet that was wrapped up on his back bobbing slightly. He was looking at the trees that lined the worn dirt path they followed. His eyes wandered over to her and as their eyes met, she immediately darted hers in another direction._

"_Okay," He stopped, and grabbed her right shoulder. "I don't get it. Why do you keep staring at me?!"_

_She looked at him, her eyes wide. When he shouted, she flinched. "I…"_

"_I mean, you'll stare, and when I look at you, you look away!" He flung his arms above his head, then let them fall back down to his sides. "I don't get it."_

_She went red. She couldn't tell him she thought he was cute…he'd probably avoid speaking to her, then. She opted for silence._

"_Pssh, whatever." He began walking again, and she stayed immobile. She felt a bit shameless for not answering. She jogged and caught up with him._

_Suddenly, a kunai was hurtling their way, aimed for his head. She put her arm up to shield his face, and instead of connecting with his skull, it lodged into her forearm with a fierce ripping sound. Blood spurted from her arm, and she held back a yelp while tears leaked from under her closed lids._

_He had heard her gasp of pain, and looked to her. When he did, he was met with her arm. He looked at it and saw that blood was slipping down her arm towards her shoulder._

_His eyes widened, and he reached for her arm. He pulled it down gently, and carefully turned it so that her palm was facing up. He saw that there was a kunai piercing her flesh, and looked at her face. She was crying, and staring at the knife._

"_Keep still, okay?" He said softly, and wrapped his long fingers around the neck of the kunai. When he pulled on it, she took in a sharp breath. He stopped for a moment, but then drew it out in one swift movement. She shrieked, and clutched her arm to her chest._

_He was rummaging in his weapon holsters, when he found some of the cloth he used to wrap his puppet. He took her arm into his large but kind hands, and began wrapping the wound left by the knife-like weapon. A shuriken then sped her way, and he reached behind her head. It was caught safely between his middle and index fingers. He tossed it aside into the snow. "Wrap it, I know you know how." He handed the roll of gauze to her and rose, pulling the puppet from his back._

"_I've got this."_

_He flicked his wrists and at that instant, his puppet unwrapped itself, and his chakra strings shot out of his fingertips. They connected with the puppet, and it came to stand in front of him._

_She continued to tend to her injury, and after she was finished…She sat under a nearby tree, and watched him fight with eyes bursting with awe._

_He side-swiped one ninja, and shot poison darts at four. They successfully buried themselves into the enemies. Then at least six more jumped from the surrounding landscape…_

_He battled for at least ten minutes, succeeding in making the ninja scatter. He looked her way and smiled, waving her over. "How was that?"_

_He had such grace in everything he did…she wished it hadn't ended. She'd watched his fingers curl, and his body sway as he maneuvered his puppet. She had been almost _hypnotized_. "Great!" She gave him a double-thumbs-up, her knuckles touching. She smiled sweetly at him. He chuckled lightly, and began walking again._

_She followed, having a sudden burst of energy from being comfortable for a few moments while he had fought. She spontaneously ran, leaving him about ten feet behind her. She went across a frozen lake, and was almost to the other side. "C'mon!" She called back to him, waving him up._

"_I'm coming," He shouted to her, and kept walking across the lake. He was going steadily, when he heard a quick 'snap'. He looked around, and saw nothing. He shrugged, and kept walking. Then, a sharp cracking noise came to him, and he looked down. There were fractures in the ice below his feet, and he became frantic. His eyes grew wide. His body shook, and his fingers locked, as did his knees. He tries to move, but was in shock…The ice gave way, and he fell through, giving a loud scream._

_She looked back, seeing him fall in. "KANKURO!!!" She sped back to him, and saw his right hand clawing at the ice around the hole he had collapsed into. She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled, seeing his hand wilt. His fingers fell, and his wrist went limp. She pulled with all her might, and looked at the water to see bubbles surfacing._

"_NOI!" She yanked hard, and his head came to the surface, his paint still there, and his hood still planted on his head. She dragged him the rest of the way out, and brought his head to rest on her lap. She pressed hard onto his chest, water erupting from deep inside his lungs. It wasn't just water; a bit of blood was swirling in the water that came out. _

_She waited, tears welling in her emerald eyes, and put her hand above his mouth. A small waft of cold air hit her hand, confirming that he was alive._

_She looked around, and spotted a cave. She began to haul him there, crying the entire way. She got him inside, and lay him down. She immediately checked his breathing again, noticing that it was barely enough for her to feel it. She put her mouth to his, and began to perform CPR. She stopped when there was a steady flow of breath coming from him. She began to execute the proper medic check…_

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	3. The Brink Of Life

She looked at his chest fixedly, hoping for some motion. Nothing happened. She began to lean down, and brought her mouth to his to perform CPR again. When her lips were barely a centimeter away from his, a jerky breath ghosted over her mouth. She pulled back, and put her hands on his chest, perceiving his breathing. Barely any at all.

She began to gently push on his torso, helping with his inhalation by exhaling more so he'd have to draw in more. There was now a steady course of breathing through him. She got up and tried looking around the cave again. She looked back at him from the other side of the cavern, and noticed his chest jerking in attempt to breath. He was still too cold.

She began to panic. She couldn't keep helping his breathing; he'd just be suffering the cold. She didn't want him to be in any pain, like any good medic.

She spotted the backpack she had her things in, and noticed that it was fairly large. She got an ingenious idea: she would dump all of her stuff out, and rip the backpack's seams, turning it into a large piece of cloth. _Thick_ cloth.

She grabbed the pack and spilled its contents; a needle and thread, bandages, stints, among other things needed for medical use. She ripped the seams, and whipped it out, so that it was one giant blanket.

She hurried over to him, and sat him up. She threw the blanket over him, and thought for a moment. _'It's not going to help if he's wet…' _So, reluctantly, she took off the top section of his clothing. He wasn't fat, as most people had thought. He was rather fine-muscled, and she blushed a bit from looking at her half-naked companion.

She leaned him on her, in an almost-hug. That way, the blanket would warm his back and spinal chord, while her heat would warm his lungs and heart. She laid his head on her left shoulder, while she leaned against the cave's wall.

She felt his chest push lightly on hers, and smiled. She sighed, and he did as well. She chuckled in her mind, thinking that it was probably a subconscious reflex. She looked at the cave's maximum, which was illuminated by the whitish light from outside.

She began to absentmindedly run her fingers through his thick bush of hair. She closed her eyes, and started to sing quietly.

"Well it's hard to explain, but I'll try if you let me…Well it's hard to sustain, I'll cry if you let me…"

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He was breathing…and he was cold. He was lying flat, and his head wasn't feeling too great either. There was warm air fanning over his mouth. It had a taste…strawberries? Then black…

He was breathing again, and something was pushing ever-so-gently on his chest. What it was, he didn't know. But he didn't care, because he was getting more air. It felt good. He couldn't remember why it felt so good, but truthfully, he didn't want to care. He knew he did, but he didn't want to. So he pushed it back. Then, all of the sudden, the soothing press on his upper body was gone. His lungs were weak, and it became harder and harder to breathe when that soft force was gone. Black again.

He got his breath back, but he was jerking. All of a sudden, he was being pulled into a sitting position. That hurt him; he hissed in pain, but it was inaudible. Blackness…

He was sitting up; his head laid on something solid, but warm. The back of his head was warm too. He couldn't feel the cuff of his shirt gripping his wrists anymore, but that thing was cold…whatever was covering him now was warm. It was so warm, that since he had been ice-cold, it made his body tingle. He heard a sigh, and as a reflex and out of comfort, he sighed too.

He inhaled through his nose, and there was a smell…it was invigorating. Cherry blossoms on a cool day…a bittersweet smell. He then felt something touch his hair. He tensed a bit inside, but it wasn't going to hurt him, whatever it was. It was stroking his hair, almost in a loving manner. It was a tender touch, something that he found then and there that he loved. He sighed again, to himself.

Then there was vibration on his chest. A beautiful sound echoed in his ears, every time it stopped, the vibration stopped. The sound was coming from whatever he was propped against.

"This doesn't change the way I feel about you or your place in my life…" The thing (of what he assumed was a person) began to shake, and in a watery voice, continued, "Please, don't cry…"

His eyes opened, and what he saw was some rocks, and out of his left eye: red on peach…skin. Something, clothing of some sort, on skin. Where was he laying? The soft singing was coming from behind him, so he supposed he was lying on a shoulder.

He was being shaken, and the thing that had been in his hair was now on his back, along with another similar small pressure.

"Angels cry, when stars collide. I can't eat, and I can't breathe, I wouldn't want it any other way."

The voice stopped, and jerked.

"Intentions that were pure have turned obscure. Seconds into hours, minutes into years, don't ask me why."

The pressures on his back squeezed, clutching him closer to the person. "Please, don't…" They stopped singing. "Go," they said quietly, shaking again. "Please…"

'_It's a girl…that voice is too soft to be a man…and this grip is too small. It's a girl alright…but who? The last person I remember being with is…_Haruno_…'_

Kankuro kept his breathing even, acting as if he were asleep. That gentle hand went into his hair again, and she began to run her fingers through his locks. She combed through a few times then stopped, gripping his hair. She curled her fingers into his scalp and it hurt him a little, considering her immense strength.

He felt something warm slide down his shoulder. _'It must be tears…she was crying before.'_ "Kankuro," His eyes shot open. "Please don't leave…I…I don't want you to go…" _'She said my name…and she wants me to be alive…'_

She knotted her hand even tighter in his hair. "Please, Kankuro, don't go. Please!"

'_I have to let her know…I feel bad doing this to her…'_ "Hnnh…" he moaned, trying to act as if he had just awoken.

Her eyes shot open, her head shooting up to look straight. Then she looked down at him, and loosened her grip on his hair. "K-kankuro?!" she watched as he moved his head to face her neck. "Oh…my god…" She threw her arms around him, and hugged him close. "Y-you're okay…" She sobbed into his shoulder, her teeth gliding over his skin as she spoke.

"H-haruno…" He said shakily, having not used his voice in at least fifteen minutes. He smiled, his lips tickling her neck as he did. "I'm fine."

She pulled back, holding him up. He looked down and noticed that she had her legs crossed, and his long legs were encircling hers, reaching all the way to the middle of her back.

"Sakura?" He said, laying his head back on her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Would you do that thing with your hand…in my hair again?" He asked, snuggling up to the warm kunoichi.

"Sure," She put her hand on his head, and began to run her fingers through his hair once again. "Sure I could." She weaved her fingers through his silky copper mane, and began singing. "Have you ever been so lonely…There's no one there to hold?"

'_Yes,'_ He thought.

"Just pull me in or disown me, and then climb inside. My arms are open wide, have a look inside."

He cuddled closer to her as she sang that part. She gasped as his lips parted and he breathed, his breath tingling the flesh of her left shoulder. "Go on…"

She nodded, and took a breath. "It is not that I am scared to learn just why I'm empty inside. Just hold my hand, and show some concern if I live or die, my eyes are open wide. Help me look inside…"

He sat up and looked into her eyes, and smiled. "I'm tired, Sakura. I'd like to sleep, and I'm sure you need it as well." He pulled himself away from her, and lay down on the stone floor below them. He pulled the blanket with him, and covered up with one half. He looked over his shoulder at her, and then patted the rock floor next to him. She slowly crawled over, and lay with her back to his.

"Beautiful singing, by the way."


End file.
